Chapter 22: Attacking the Mountain Fortress
Because Xiao Ying didn't join the Wandering Help, he was assigned to the extra roster of the army, becoming a drop in the ocean. Compared to the massive army of the Wandering Help, Xiao Ying's 200+ troops were indeed just a drop in the ocean. What surprised Xiao Ying was that his 200+ troops were actually quite impressive in the extra roster, with many being solo players or small groups of ten or so. These people were truly here to gain experience. After all, one person's development is just the beginning of the game. Now, it's not possible to convert real money into game currency, and having a scale like Xiao Ying's was quite impressive. Calculating roughly, there were nearly a thousand extra rosters, which was also a significant help. Moreover, the Wandering Help still had to develop in Luoyang, and if they didn't let these people participate, it would lead to discontent among the players, which would be detrimental to their guild's development. This kind of scene was something that men would normally come to see or participate in, and there wasn't much to worry about. Currently, in the early stages of the game, even ordinary NPCs were stronger than players, so the Wandering Help didn't have high hopes for these "sightseeing" players either. They just treated them as spectators who came along with some free advertising from the extra rosters. However, by the mid-to-late game, when players grew in strength, these troops would become a significant force. Don't look at this army of tens of thousands; among them, there were only around 10,000 players, and these "sightseeing" players made up about one-tenth of their guild's strength.
Looking at the army that blocks out the sky and the sun, Xiao Ying couldn't help but feel fortunate that this time leaving Evil Shadow Village was the right decision. Evil Shadow Village currently has only over 100 military strength, and with just a slight squeeze from the Carefree Gang, it would be enough to destroy Evil Shadow Village. Although it's easy to defend and hard to attack, if they don't care about losses and wage a war of attrition day and night, the difference in strength is too great, and Peach Blossom Valley will absolutely not be able to hold on.
After several hours of marching, they finally arrived at the entrance to the massive valley of the Sanxi mountain range. The terrain was similar to that of Taoyuan Valley, but the entrance was nearly a hundred meters wide and over a hundred meters long. Although the environment wasn't as good as Taoyuan Valley's, it was still a decent defensive position. No wonder they were able to station an army of tens of thousands near Luoyang City. It seems that I should take a closer look and gain some experience, so that next time someone attacks Taoyuan Valley, we can be better prepared.
Upon arriving at the entrance of Taoyuan Valley, Xiao Ying and his so-called external military unit mostly retreated to the side to prepare for watching and cheering. After all, everyone had made it clear that they were there to gain experience, who would rush forward to die at the beginning? At the start of the battle, it was absolutely the time of greatest casualties, basically a suicidal charge. However, the carefree helpers didn't make things difficult for them, as expected, not hindering their progress was enough, nor did they expect the external military unit to be the main force. Unless they wanted to completely offend everyone and be forced to go up, but now players were still very inexperienced, even if they went up, it wasn't useful, no better than a normal NPC soldier.
Three hundred thousand troops were densely packed at the mouth of the valley, after all, it's just a game, and there was no time for grooming or cooking. The horses immediately became busy in an orderly manner, with tens of thousands of swordsmen and shieldmen lined up in front, quickly forming a wall of shields. Behind them were archers, crossbowmen, and countless female soldiers, gunners, and swordsmen, followed by row upon row of light cavalry. At this point, it was still the early stages of the game, and players didn't have any particularly powerful or unique troops. Even if you had a certain skill, it wouldn't be trained so quickly.
Those mountain bandits are not the weak and stupid NPCs of previous games. On the city wall, which is about 10 meters high and hundreds of meters long and wide, countless longbowmen, strong bowmen, and crossbowmen appeared instantly, with only a small number of axe-wielding soldiers. It seems that they plan to rely on the city wall and remote attack methods to defend themselves to the death. However, it must be said that this is also the only way out. What else can they do? Rush out?
Only to see thousands of players' mages and strategists arriving at the front, their hands flying non-stop, layers of transparent luminescence enveloping all the troops in front, probably casting various auxiliary spells.
"Cheers, cheers, cheers..." Tens of thousands of people shouted in unison, instantly making one's blood boil with excitement, emotions surging, and a suffocating feeling in the chest, as if something was about to burst out.
"Thud, thud, thud..." The sound of synchronized footsteps rose up, as the soldiers in front held up huge wooden shields and iron shields, marching forward in unison. The army behind them advanced slowly, like a dark cloud covering the sky, their sharp weapons reflecting countless dazzling rays of light that made people's eyes spin. With such a massive army, it really felt like "Dark clouds pressed down on the city, the city was about to collapse, armor shining towards the sun, golden scales opening". The mountain bandits on the city wall looked tense and were clearly under a lot of pressure.
Just as the players watching from the side of the hill thought that the carefree bandits were going to charge forward, the formation in front suddenly opened up in an orderly manner. Some people carrying various types of wood and iron materials appeared before everyone's eyes, assembling in a neat and orderly fashion. A huge question mark floated above everyone, including the mountain bandits, wondering what they were doing. The answer was quickly revealed, immediately causing a burst of exclamations and gasps of amazement.
As the rapid assembly progressed, a series of tens of meters high siege ladders emerged one after another. At the bottom were dozens of wheelbarrows, made up of wooden bars hastily assembled from east to west. Soon, strong bowmen and other powerful long-range attackers climbed onto the ladders. The ladders were pushed forward with great effort by dozens of people, slowly approaching the mountain bandit's city walls, instantly causing panic among countless mountain bandits. However, soon after, many giant shield-wielding warriors appeared on the city walls. The giant shields in their hands were obviously several times stronger than those of the carefree sect's knife-shield soldiers, all shining steel shields. The wooden and iron shields of the carefree sect were no match for them. It seems that you have a clever plan, but I also have my own wall ladder.
However, it is clear that both sides still have more aces up their sleeves. Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen catapults were erected, and soon there were many things similar to chariots in games, with huge boulders on top. It was obvious that these were catapults. After seven or eight catapults appeared, three long and massive objects emerged, with the front resembling a chariot but much sturdier. On top of the chariot was a giant log with a diameter of one meter and a length of about twenty meters, as well as dozens of burly men with broad shoulders and waists, followed by hundreds of soldiers wielding giant hammers. It's clear that they plan to use battering rams and giant hammers to force open the city gates.
"Damn, the game has just started for a short while, how did they get so many siege engines! Where did the Carefree Gang get them from!" The onlookers from the other teams began to feel envious, but he also asked out loud what Xiao Ying was wondering. It seemed that the Carefree Gang was not simple after all, and they were actually able to get their hands on such things.
"This is a secret, I'll whisper it to you, but I wouldn't tell just anyone! Apparently, someone from the Wandering Heroes Clan had a lucky rebirth and was born into the family of the Commander-in-Chief of Luoyang, who oversees all military affairs. Not only did they learn many skills, but they also helped the Wandering Heroes Clan acquire many high-killing-ability weapons at a great cost!" Someone whispered this out in a "very confidential" tone, just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
